exorcismhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/taxonomy/term/7415/all
enPolice try to stop Christian worshippers opposing London arms fairhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/19018
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<p>Christians have taken part in prayers and worship on the road to a London arms fair, despite attempts by police to stop the act of witness going ahead.</p>
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<p>Dozens of Christians have taken part in prayers and and an act of 'exorcism' on the road to the London arms fair, despite three attempts by police to stop the act of worship going ahead.</p>
<p>Three Church of England priests peacefully led dozens of worshippers into the road on the eastern approach to the Excel Centre in east London, where the arms fair, known formally as Defence &amp; Security Equipment International (DSEi), is due to be held on Tuesday 10 September. </p>
<p>Equipment, including weapons, was being transported into the venue today - facing protests and blockades.</p>
<p>Police tried to stop the three priests - the Rev Chris Howson, the Rev Dr Keith Hebden and the Rev Helen Hayes - from walking into the road. As they calmly walked on, worshippers knelt down in the road.</p>
<p>Together they prayed for Jesus' victory over "the spirits of militarism and violence" and asked God's forgiveness for tolerating the arms trade.</p>
<p>The police formed a close circle around the worshippers and twice threatened them with arrest if they did not leave, despite the act of worship taking only around 15 minutes.</p>
<p>Many non-Christian protesters came to express their support, cheered and participated in sharing the peace (a handshake or hug) at the end of the event. Several worshippers also tried to share the peace with police officers.</p>
<p>The event was organised by anti-capitalist network Christianity Uncut, with the support of members of Christian CND, the Student Christian Movement (SCM), the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Christian Network of the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).</p>
<p>Earlier in the day, police arrested a member of the co-ordinating group of Christianity Uncut, Siobhan Grimes. She had joined others in peacefully sitting in the road to prevent arms-related equipment being taken into the Excel Centre. She has been charged with obstructing a highway and will appear in court on 4 November 2013.</p>
<p>During the act of worship, the Rev Chris Howson, a priest in Sunderland, said:"Sisters and brothers, we gather to exorcise the demons of Militarism and Violence: To call an end to the evil horrors of the arms trade and to caste out the spirit of warfare and barbarism from this place. We remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the continuing global arms race, the failure of the nuclear powers to observe their obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the polluted earth, the world governed by fear instead of justice, the futility of deterrence, the waste of public money."</p>
<p>Symon Hill, a member of Christianity Uncut who has been actively involved in Quaker groups and also an attender of a central London Baptist church, knelt in the road to participate in the act of worship.</p>
<p>He said afterwards: "This was a very moving and spiritually deep experience. Jesus' exorcisms challenged the powers of his day, drew links between personal suffering and wider injustices and liberated the people involved. Today we witnessed to God's power, the power of love and justice, in the midst of an event dedicated to the idols of money and military might."</p>
<p>* The full text of the liturgy used during the act of worship can be read at <a href="http://christianityuncut.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/liturgy-of-exorcism-and-repentance" title="http://christianityuncut.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/liturgy-of-exorcism-and-repentance">http://christianityuncut.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/liturgy-of-exorcism-an...</a></p>
<p>[Ekk/3]</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Peace and WarPeople and PowerReligion and SocietyNews Briefarms fairarms fairsarms tradechristianity uncutDSEiDSEi 2013exorcismorayerUK NewsworshipSun, 08 Sep 2013 21:29:23 +0000staff writers19018 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukExorcism: demonising gay peoplehttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12592
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<p>Exorcism and 'deliverance ministries' targeted at gay people and others are on the rise in sections of the church, says Joseph Laycock. But perhaps it is the exchange in which both responsibility and autonomy are forfeited in favour of superstition which is the true “deal with devil.”</p>
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<p>Last month, a feature in the online magazine Details told the story of Kevin Robinson, a gay teenager from Connecticut. Brought up in a Pentecostal household, Kevin first came out to his family when he was sixteen. </p>
<p>His mother, refusing to accept homosexuality as a natural sexual orientation, persuaded Kevin to undergo a series of exorcisms to expunge the demons that church members believed were causing his homosexual desire. </p>
<p>After the tenth exorcism – which was particularly brutal and degrading – Kevin and his mother finally came to accept his sexual orientation. Now twenty, Kevin still expresses difficulty reconciling his faith with his gay identity.</p>
<p>Numerous modern 'deliverance ministries' perform rituals to cast demons out of homosexuals. Last June, a shocking YouTube video of such an exorcism by Manifested Glory Ministries attracted national news. In the video, charismatic prophetess Patricia McKinney discerns that a teenager has “a homosexual demon.” What ensues is a frantic twenty-minute ordeal during which the teenager writhes on the floor in a near seizure. Church members eventually induce vomiting by squeezing the boy’s abdomen. </p>
<p>Vomiting, interpreted as evil leaving the body, has become the <em>sine qua non</em> in the cultural 'script' of modern exorcism – a practice that is, needless to say, highly controversial. Even Christian ministries who preach that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice and a sin have censured these exorcisms, arguing that they are dangerous. And the majority of gays who undergo these rites are minors, leading some to suggest that this is a form of child abuse.</p>
<p>But exorcism is actually on the rise and may be more common in America than ever before. In 2008 the Pew Research Center found that 70 per cent of respondents believe that demons are active in the world. Similar findings have been reported by Gallup and the Baylor Religion Survey. However, this resurgence of demonology raises serious questions about where demonic influence ends and individual autonomy begins.</p>
<p>As evidenced in the Gospels, the casting out of demons was an important feature of the early church. In fact, pagans sometimes sought out Christians from whom they could receive exorcisms. By the early modern period, Catholic Europe had a rich culture of local exorcists. The Ritual Romanum, written in 1614 under Pope Paul V, consolidated popular forms of exorcism into a formal rite. This brought exorcism under the direct control of the church hierarchy and in the modern era, the rite increasingly became a relic. </p>
<p>However, in the 1970s, there was a resurgence of exorcism and quasi-exorcism among evangelical Protestants and charismatic Catholics. These modern practices, often called “deliverance ministries” rather than exorcism, usually occur outside of ecclesiastic authority.</p>
<p>Modern deliverance ministries espouse a form of demonology entirely different from that found in ancient times. Until the twentieth century, the quintessential case of possession was the Gerasenes demoniac, with an alternate personality, a total lack of socialisation, and supernatural abilities. </p>
<p>But the demons cast out by deliverance ministries are rarely alternate personalities like The Exorcist’s Pazuzu. Instead, they are usually aspects of the person’s normal personality that are deemed demonic. McKinney explained, “You have the alcohol spirit. You have the crack cocaine spirit. You have the adulterous spirit. Everything carries a spirit.” </p>
<p>David Frankfurter describes demonology as “the mapping of misfortune onto the environment.” Any trait or behaviour including homosexuality, eating disorders and infidelity can now be attributed to demons rather than natural proclivities or rational choice. Indeed, this seems to be the most appealing aspect of deliverance ministries: When all behaviour is ascribed to the influence of demons, there is no one who cannot be exonerated.</p>
<p><em>Pigs in the Parlour</em> (1973), a seminal text for the movement, offers an elaborate taxonomy of possessing demons. Here, demons of homosexuality appear as part of a larger family of demons responsible for sexual impurity. Other families include the demons of rebellion (where resides “the demon of self-will”) and the demons of false religion (including the demons of Islam, Buddhism, and other world religions). </p>
<p>While researching his book <em>American Exorcism</em>, Michael Cuneo encountered women whose husbands had diagnosed them as having “a demon of willfulness.” He was even diagnosed as harbouring demons himself. Within this system, humans seem to lose all autonomy; instead, individuality is entirely the product of the various demons possessing us.</p>
<p>Ministries that exorcise gay teens are quick to argue that the teens come to them. Modern demonology effectively allows individuals to alienate any part of themselves that they are uncomfortable with. This is no doubt appealing to a variety of people who are conflicted over their desires – whether they are gay teens, guilt-ridden adulterers, or people who cheat on their diets. But 'outsourcing' our inner struggles to exorcists comes with a cost. </p>
<p>By forfeiting responsibility for our behaviour, we also forfeit our right to define ourselves as individuals, and we become vulnerable to the abuse doled out by Kevin’s last exorcist. Perhaps this exchange, in which both responsibility and autonomy are forfeited, is the true “deal with devil.”</p>
<p><em>References:</em></p>
<p>Matt Mcalester, “Deliverance: The True Story of a Gay Exorcism,” Details.com, June 2010. Available online at: <a href="http://www.details.com/culture-trends/critical-eye/201006/gay-exorcism" title="http://www.details.com/culture-trends/critical-eye/201006/gay-exorcism">http://www.details.com/culture-trends/critical-eye/201006/gay-exorcism</a></p>
<p>Michael Cuneo, <em>American Exorcism: Expelling Demons in the Land of Plenty</em>, (Broadway Books, 2001).</p>
<p>David Frankfurter, <em>Evil Incarnate: Rumors of Demonic Conspiracy and Satanic Abuse in History</em>, (Princeton University Press, 2006).</p>
<p>Pew Research Center, <em>US Religious Landscape Survey: June 2008</em>, (Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 2008).</p>
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<p>(c) <strong>Joseph Laycock</strong> is is a doctoral student in religion and society at Boston University, and the author of <em>Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampires</em> (Praeger Publishers, 2009).</p>
<p>With grateful acknowledgements to <em>Sightings</em>, and the <a href="http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/">Martin Marty Center</a> at the University of Chicago Divinity School, Illinois, USA.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Religion and SocietySex and GenderNews BriefdemonisationdemonizedemonsexorcismhomosexualHomosexualitysatanicCulture and ReviewFri, 09 Jul 2010 10:06:22 +0000Joseph Laycock12592 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukMayors, media and fundamentalismhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10828
<p><a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10828" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Religion and SocietySex and GenderAidsBoris Johnsonexorcismfundamentalismhomophobiaken livingstoneLGBTlondonRedeemed Christian Church of GodBlogMon, 14 Dec 2009 18:30:26 +0000Symon Hill10828 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukBoris Johnson under fire over church that "exorcises" gayshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10788
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<p>The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is facing strong criticism for participating in a carol service at a church that carries out “exorcisms” of gay people. The incident is being compared to Ken Livingstone's hosting of a fundamentalist Muslim.</p>
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<p>The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is facing strong criticism for participating in a carol service at a church that admits to carrying out “exorcisms” of gay people.</p>
<p>Johnson attended the service yesterday evening (9 December) at the Jesus House church in Barnet. It is led by Pastor Agu Irukwu and is part of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. </p>
<p>The Church carries out “exorcisms” of people who are sexually attracted to members of their own sex, but insists that such “exorcisms” are done only with the calm consent of the person concerned. This has failed to satisfy critics, who are comparing the incident to a decision by the previous Mayor, Ken Livingstone, to host the anti-gay Muslim preacher Yusaf al-Quaradawi. </p>
<p>“Boris Johnson has made a big mistake by agreeing to attend a carol service hosted by a homophobic clergyman,” said the human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, “Pastor Agu Irukwu is a long-time opponent of gay equality”. </p>
<p>The Mayor’s press office said that he was attending the service “to kick off a host of festive celebrations across the capital” and that he will later attend services in Southwark Cathedral and Trafalgar Square. </p>
<p>But Tatchell said, “Boris should investigate the people who invite him before accepting their invitations. He should not attend this church, for the same reason that he should not attend a church where the pastor preaches against black or Jewish people or against equal rights for women or Muslims”. </p>
<p>Irukwu campaigned against the Sexual Orientation Regulations in 2006, which gave gay, lesbian and bisexual people protection from discrimination in the provision of goods and services. He signed a statement rejecting the notion “that homosexuality is equal to heterosexuality”.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Religion and SocietySex and GenderNews BriefBoris JohnsonchristmasexorcismhomophobiaLGBTRedeemed Christian Church of GodUK NewsThu, 10 Dec 2009 08:57:32 +0000staff writers10788 at http://www.ekklesia.co.uk